Sealed Pipette Tip Tray for Sterility and Lower Packaging Waste
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing devices for providing disposable laboratory items face challenges in maintaining sterility and purity, particularly with pipette tips, due to asymmetrical force application causing tipping over and high packaging material usage, leading to contamination risks.
Innovation Solution
A device comprising a tray and cover made of germ-impermeable materials with a sealing connection, ensuring sterility through manufacturing processes like irradiation, and allowing autoclaving, while minimizing packaging material use.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If additional containment (foil, sealing tape, protective cover) is used to maintain sterility of pipette tips, then purity level is improved, but packaging dimensions and packaging costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The device merges the carrier holding multiple pipette tips with a single integrated cover that provides containment for all tips simultaneously. This eliminates the need for individual packaging for each tip or complex multi-layer containment structures, achieving sterility maintenance with reduced packaging volume and material usage.
2Reliability
If pipette tips are protected by foil, sealing tape, or additional protective cover, then sterility is maintained, but packaging material usage increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention combines multiple protection functions into a single cover structure that seals over the entire carrier. This integrated approach maintains sterility for all pipette tips while using significantly less packaging material compared to individual tip packaging or multiple separate protective layers.
3Productivity
If pipette tips are removed using multi-channel pipette with partial loading, then productivity is improved, but device stability deteriorates due to asymmetrical force application causing tipping over
Solution Approach 1:
The cover is designed to be removed or opened before the pipette tips are extracted from the carrier. This preliminary action eliminates the cover's stabilizing effect during tip removal, but the carrier itself is designed with inherent stability features that allow asymmetric tip removal without tipping. The sequence of operations (cover removal first, then tip extraction) enables both partial loading productivity and device stability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The device maintains sterility and purity of disposable laboratory items by preventing contamination and reducing packaging waste, facilitating safe and economical removal of pipette tips using multi-channel pipettes.
Implementation Method 1
a tray made of a germ-impermeable material... a cover made of a germ-impermeable material... preventing contamination
Implementation Method 2
a detachable connection, via which the outer edge of the cover is connected to the first edge flange in a sealing manner
Implementation Method 3
These are sterilized by the manufacturer, for example, by irradiation
Implementation Method 4
Pipette tips with a lower purity level that are delivered without additional containment can generally be autoclaved by the user
Data Source
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AI summary
Device for providing disposable laboratory items while maintaining a level of cleanliness for work in the laboratory with • a tray made of a germ-impermeable material comprising o a bottom wall, o first side walls that project upwards from the bottom wall, o a first opening that is defined by the upper edges of the first side walls, o a first edge flange that is connected to the upper edges of the first side walls and runs around the first opening and o support structures within the first side walls at a distance from the bottom wall, • a plate-shaped carrier with o a plurality of holes aligned perpendicular to the base area of the carrier, o which is inserted into the first opening and rests on the support structures, • a plurality of disposable laboratory items that are inserted into the holes in the carrier, • a cover made of a germ-impermeable material,which covers the carrier and the disposable laboratory items inserted therein and rests with a circumferential outer edge on the first edge flange and • a detachable connection via which the outer edge of the cover is connected to the first edge flange in a sealing manner.